U.S. patent application number 11/262277 was filed with the patent office on 2007-05-03 for light-guiding structure having spring member and positioning portion for being assembled to a panel easily.
This patent application is currently assigned to Inventec Corporation. Invention is credited to Yung-Chin Hsu.
Application Number | 20070097699 11/262277 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37996042 |
Filed Date | 2007-05-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070097699 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsu; Yung-Chin |
May 3, 2007 |
Light-guiding structure having spring member and positioning
portion for being assembled to a panel easily
Abstract
A light-guiding structure applied to a panel having a plurality
of first engaging portions and a first positioning portion is
disclosed. The light-guiding structure includes a main body, a
plurality of light-guiding poles installed on the main body and
having a plurality of second engaging portions for engaging with
the first engaging portions of the panel, and at least a spring
member installed on the main body and having a second positioning
portion for engaging with the first positioning portion of the
panel. The light-guiding structure is easy to be assembled and
disassembled, without the use of any tools.
Inventors: |
Hsu; Yung-Chin; (Taipei,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
EDWARDS & ANGELL, LLP
P.O. BOX 55874
BOSTON
MA
02205
US
|
Assignee: |
Inventec Corporation
Taipei
TW
|
Family ID: |
37996042 |
Appl. No.: |
11/262277 |
Filed: |
October 28, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
362/551 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/181 20130101;
G02B 6/0008 20130101; G06F 1/183 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
362/551 |
International
Class: |
G02B 6/00 20060101
G02B006/00 |
Claims
1. A light-guiding structure for a panel having a plurality of
first engaging portions and a first positioning portion, the
light-guiding structure comprising: a main body; a plurality of
light-guiding poles installed on the main body and corresponding to
the first engaging portions, each of the light-guiding poles having
a second engaging portion for engagement of its first engaging
portion of the panel; and at least a spring member installed on the
main body and having a second positioning portion for engagement
with the first positioning portion of the panel.
2. The light-guiding structure of claim 1, wherein at least one of
the light-guiding poles is pervious to light.
3. The light-guiding structure of claim 2, wherein the
light-guiding pole is made of acryl.
4. The light-guiding structure of claim 1, wherein at least one of
the second engaging portions is a protrusion.
5. The light-guiding structure of claim 1, wherein the spring
member is integrated with the main body.
6. The light-guiding structure of claim 1, wherein the spring
member is in the form of a leaf and in the shape of one selected
from the group consisting of characters "U" and "V", and a
plurality of connected Us and connected Vs.
7. The light-guiding structure of claim 1, wherein the second
positioning portion is a convex point.
8. The light-guiding structure of claim 7, wherein the convex point
is circular or rectangular.
9. The light-guiding structure of claim 1, wherein the second
positioning portion is a recess.
10. The light-guiding structure of claim 9, wherein the recess is
circular or rectangular.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to light-guiding structures,
and more particularly, to a light-guiding structure able to be
applied to a panel of an electronic device.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] With development of the science and technology, powerful
electronic equipments have been widely used in our daily life and
become one necessary part of our life. As to an enterprise, how to
use these electronic equipments such as servers in a network
environment to collect and manage information is particularly
important.
[0005] The electronic equipments such as servers are usually
mounted in a cabinet in a stack manner or side by side. A plurality
of hard disk drives could be mounted in each of the servers and a
required system could be installed in each of the hard disk
drives.
[0006] Meanwhile, in order to secure internal circuit components or
mechanical components, to prevent dust and to obtain a decorative
effect, a housing or a panel is usually mounted on the server. The
housing or panel is fixed to the server by a plurality of screws
and screw holes formed in the server so that the housing or panel
could be removed if needed such as for maintaining, testing or
operating the server.
[0007] In an effort to maintain electronic equipment, a set of LEDs
(Light Emitting Diodes) indicating status of different units in the
electronic equipment are aggregated so that a user or technician
could easily identify a failing unit according to a fault LED.
[0008] However, after a panel is mounted to the electronic
equipment, the user or technician has to look through perforations
formed in advance in the panel to identify a fault LED. Thus, it is
difficult for the user or technician to precisely and quickly
determine a fault occurrence of any of the units. To overcome this
problem, a plurality of light-guiding columns is mounted to the
panel so that light of the LEDs below the panel could be guided to
the outside. In this way, the user or technician could clearly view
the light of the LEDs and easily identify a failing unit according
to a fault LED.
[0009] However, these light-guiding columns are usually fixed to
the panel permanently and irremovably. Once the light-guiding
columns are not available, the whole panel needs to be replaced,
thereby resulting in high maintenance cost.
[0010] Therefore, there exists a need to provide a light-guiding
structure that can be assembled and disassembled without the need
of any tools.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] To overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art,
it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a
light-guiding structure that can be assembled and disassembled
without the need of any tools.
[0012] It is another objective of the present invention to provide
a light-guiding structure of low maintenance cost.
[0013] To achieve the above and other objectives, a light-guiding
structure for a panel having a plurality of first engaging portions
and a first positioning portion is provided. The light-guiding
structure includes a main body, a plurality of light-guiding poles
installed on the main body and having a plurality of second
engaging portions for engaging with the first engaging portions of
the panel, and at least a spring member installed on the main body
and having a second positioning portion for engaging with the first
positioning portion of the panel.
[0014] Each of the light-guiding poles is preferably to be pervious
to light and is made of acryl. Each of the second engaging portions
is preferably to be designed as a protrusion. The spring member is
preferably integrated with the main body and is in the form of a
leaf and in the shape of one selected from the group consisting of
characters "U" and "V", and a plurality of connected Us and
connected Vs. In the preferred embodiment, the second positioning
portion is a circular or a rectangular convex point. In another
embodiment, the second portion is a recess corresponding to the
first positioning portion.
[0015] In the present invention, elastic force generated by the
spring member allows the light-guiding structure to be assembled
and disassembled without the need of any tools. As a result, a user
or technician is allowed to assemble and disassemble the
light-guiding structure more quickly and conveniently. Accordingly,
the problem that the light-guiding columns are mounted to the panel
permanently and irremovably is solved.
[0016] Meanwhile, the light-guiding structure of the present
invention can be easily replaced if needed such as when the
light-guiding structure is too old or out of function. Compared
with the prior art that needs to replace the whole panel in the
same circumstance, the present invention reduces maintenance
cost.
[0017] Other aspects and features will become apparent to those
ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following
description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 is a front view of a light-guiding structure diagram
of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a panel to which the
light-guiding structure shown in FIG. 1 is applied of the preferred
embodiment according to the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 3 is a rear view of the light-guiding structure shown
in FIG. 1;
[0021] FIG. 4 is an amplified view of the light-guiding structure
shown FIG. 1;
[0022] FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of the light-guiding
structure shown in FIG. 1 and the panel shown in FIG. 2 after the
light-guiding structure has been mounted on the panel; and
[0023] FIG. 5B is a partially amplified view of the assembled
light-guiding structure and panel shown in FIG. 5A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] FIGS. 1 to 5B are diagrams according to the preferred
embodiments of the present invention. For purpose of simplification
and in order to make the characteristics and structure of the
present invention more clear, the drawings merely show structures
related to the present invention.
[0025] Referring to FIGS. 1, a light-guiding structure 1 comprises
a main body 11, a plurality of light-guiding poles 13 and at least
a spring member 15 installed on the main body 11. And referring to
FIG. 2, a panel 3, to which the light-guiding structure 1 is
applied, comprises a plurality of first engaging portions 31 and a
first positioning portion 33. The following embodiment refers to a
panel of a server, but it is only exemplary and the panel should
not be limited thereto.
[0026] The main body 11 is designed according to a length of the
panel 3 and is made of elastic material. In the present embodiment,
the main body 11 is a whole piece to be assembled to the panel 3.
But the main body 11 is not limited thereto. The length of the main
body could be changed as long as it meets the requirement of the
panel 3. In addition, a plurality of main bodies 11, that is, a
plurality of light-guiding structures could be mounted on the panel
3.
[0027] As shown in FIG. 3, each of the light-guiding poles 13
installed on the main body 11 has a second engaging portion 131 for
engaging with its corresponding first engaging portions 31. In the
present embodiment, the light-guiding poles 13 are arranged at
positions spaced from each other and each of the light-guiding
poles 13 is pervious to light and is made of acryl or the like.
Each of the second engaging portions 131 is a protrusion, which is
to be assembled to its corresponding first engaging portion 31 such
as an opening. Accordingly, light of the LEDs (not shown) below the
panel 3 could be guided to the outside so that the user or
technician could manage or maintain the equipment according to the
light.
[0028] The spring member 15 installed on the main body 11 has a
second positioning portion 151 which could be elastically coupled
to the first positioning portion 33. In the present embodiment, as
shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of the spring members 15 are
integrated with the main body 11. Each of the spring members 15 is
a U-shaped leaf spring. The second positioning portion 151 is
installed in a region on the spring member 15 far from the main
body 1, and is a circular convex point corresponding to the first
positioning portion 33, which is a circular opening.
[0029] Each of the spring members 15 could be a leaf spring of a
V-shape, a continuous U-shape, a continuous V-shape or the like, as
long as it can be elastically assembled to the panel 3. Meanwhile,
each of the second positioning portions 151 is not limited to the
circular point. Each of the second positioning portions 151 could
be in any shape as long as it can be elastically assembled to the
first positioning portion 33. For example, if the first positioning
portion 33 is a rectangular hole, the second positioning portion
151 is a rectangular protrusion. If the first positioning portion
33 is a convex point, the second positioning portion 151 is a
recess. In another word, structures of the first positioning
portion 33 and the second positioning portion 151 are
interchangeable and are not limited to the drawings.
[0030] Moreover, in the present embodiment, two spring members 15
are installed between every two neighboring light-guiding poles 13
after every four continuous light-guiding poles 13. But the number,
structure and position of the light-guiding poles 13 are not
limited thereto, which could be changed according to arrangement of
the LEDs below the panel.
[0031] To mount the light-guiding structure 1 on the panel 3, what
we only need to do is to assemble the second engaging portions 131
of the light-guiding poles 13 to the first engaging portions 31 of
the panel 3 and assemble the second positioning portion 151 of the
spring member 15 to the first positioning portion 33 of the panel
3, which needs not any tools. The final structure is shown in FIG.
5A and FIG. 5B.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 5A, the main body 11 is closely installed
on an inner surface of the panel 3. Each of the light-guiding poles
13 installed corresponding to each of the LEDs below the panel 3
guides the light to a region outside of the panel 3.
[0033] As shown in FIG. 5B, while mounting the light-guiding
structure 1 on the panel 3, each of the spring members 15 is
compressed, and the elastic force generated by the spring members
15 allows the second engaging portions 131 to be firmly assembled
to the first engaging portions 31 and the second positioning
portion 151 to be firmly assembled to the first positioning portion
33. On the other hand, to disassemble the light-guiding structure 1
from the panel 3, elasticity of the spring member 15 makes it easy
to separate the second engaging portions 131 from the first
engaging portions 31 and separate the second positioning portion
151 from the first positioning portion 33.
[0034] As a result, the light-guiding structure could be assembled
and disassembled easily and conveniently without the need of any
tools, solving the problem of the prior art that the light-guiding
structure is irremovably fixed to the panel.
[0035] In addition, such a light-guiding structure makes it easy to
be replaced independently when it is damaged or deteriorated
without the need of replacing the whole panel, thereby reducing the
maintenance cost compared with the prior art.
[0036] Although a few preferred embodiments of the present
invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by
those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these
embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the
invention.
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